Method of cleaning rod.



S. M. CUTTER.

METHOD OF CLEANING ROD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1914.

Patented June 8, 1915.

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S. M. CUTTER.

METHOD OF CLEANING ROD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 19.14.

Patented June 8,1915.

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M7 .qfiiy ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SOLOMON M. CUTTER, OF WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NEe'r'IcUT,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SoLoMoN M. CUTTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wethersfield, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Cleaning Rod, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of cleaning wire or continuous lengths of rod,

such stock for instance as the soft steel rod which is used for manufacturing horseshoe nails. In the manufacture of horseshoe nails continuous lengths of rod of rectangular cross section-are first cleaned of scale and the likeimperfections and then passed through draw dies to give the stock accurate size before it is fed to the nail making machines. In order to prepare such stock it has been customary to bend the rod back and forth by suitable mechanism so as to break off the-hard scale on the exterior, and then to pass the rod through a pickling bath and baking oven so that the rod will be smooth and clean when it is passed to the drawing dies.

which may be employed-i n the practice of this invention. Fig. 2 shows a plan of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows one way of arranging a blast nozzle and the rod to be cleaned. Fig. 4 shows another way of arranging the rod and the blast nozzle.

In carrying out this invention the rod to be cleaned is Wound so that it will in feeding travel back and fortharound two feels, that is, it is passed from the'first reel around the second, back to the first, around the first to the second, around the second and back to the first a number of times. In the drawings the rod is shown as wound so that there are four sections of the same length of Specification of Letters Patent.

2 "'sirable. The object of this invention is to provide. a method by means of which continuous METHOD or CLEANING Ron.

"tions of the rod as they travel through that chamber, 'and in the lower chamber is a nozzle 8 directed obliquely toward the underside of-"the sections of rod as they travel through that chamber. These nozzles are connected with a supply pipe 9 which leads from a blast apparatus for blowing, by air or steam, sand or small metallic particles through the nozzles against the surfaces of the rod as the sections pass through the chambers. The tops of the chambers are connected with an exhaustpipe 10. In practising this invention it is not necessary to pass the rod 4 Patented June 8, 1915.

Application filed February as, 1914. Serial No. 821,142.

through these chambers, but as a matter of convenience, neatness and efficiency it is de- Sand or broken particles of steel or the like hard abrading substances are blown very forcibly out of the nozzles against the rod as it travels from one reel to the other. As the nozzles are directed diagonally toward the rod, the bottom side and one edge of the several sections of the single continuous length of rod are thoroughly cleaned by the blast when passing through the upper chamber, and of course as the rod is turned ovenwhen it passes from the second reel back to the first, what was thetopand the other edge of each section are thoroughly cleaned by the blast when passing through the second chamber. In this manner with two nozzles a multiple number of sectionsof the same rod are subjected to the same blast and each part of the rod is subjected to the blast 'as many times as there are sections passing back and forth, for each time every part passes through a chamber .it is subjected to the action of the blast. As a result of this the rod may be caused to travel very rapidly, as fast as two hundred feet a minute if desired, and yet it will be as thoroughly scaled, cleaned and polished and put in as suitable condition to be passed immediately to the drawing dies as it was previously when subjected to bending and straightening mechanism and pickling and baking apparatus. Not only can the rod be rapidly and efficiently cleaned, but the apparatus is economical as the desired result can be attained, without picklingbath or baking oven, by the use of a compara tively small amount of air or steam; permitting the use of a relatively cheap blast apparatus.

The iffvention may, of course, becarried out by subjecting the rod to a blast or blasts of abrasive material and not returning the rod for further treatment.

The invention claimed is:

1. The method of cleaning rod which consists in passing a single length back and forth so as to cause a plural number of sections of the same rod to travel parallel with each other and subjecting the several sections of thesame rod which travel parallel with each other to a blast; containing granular material whereby every particle of.

the rod is subjected to the blast as many times as there are sections traveling parallel with each other.

2. The method of cleaning a continuous length of rod which consists in passing the rod back and" forth so as to cause a number of different sections of the same rod to travel parallel with each other, and subjecting one side and one edge of the parallel rod sections to a blast containing granular material and then subjecting the other side and other edge of the parallel rod sections to a blast containing granular material.

3. The method of cleaning rod which conthus a inaaaee of rod, whereby one surface and one edge of each section of the rod are abraded by the blast a number of times equal to the number of'sections which are traveling parallel with each other.

4. The In thodof cleaning rod which consists in passing the rod'back and forth and directing a blast containing abrading material diagonally at several sections of the rod whereby at the same time one side and one edge of each section are subjected to the action of the blast.

5. The method of cleaning rod which consists in'passing a continuous length of rod back and forth about reels and subjecting the under surface and one edge at one plane to a blast, containing abrasive material, and subjecting the under surface and the other edge in another plane to a blast containing abrasive material whereby all the surfaces of the rod are subjected to the action of the blast the same number of times that the rod is passed back and forth about the reels.

6: The method of cleaning rod-which consists in simultaneously subjecting a plural number of sections of the same rod to a blast containing abrasive material.

SOLOMON M. currnn.

Witnesses GEORGE N. Pnrmnrs, MYRoN 1L. BALDWIN. 

